weekly board game reviews and thought pieces in written and audio format
You will never, in your life, see cats co-operate to create gravity-defying sculptures. It just doesn't happen. Cats tolerating each other is about as far as it gets. However, that's exactly what happens in this latest mint tin dexterity game. I can already hear you asking me: "Are you Kittin?" by Alley Cat Games.
We all learn rules for games differently. I would even say, we learn rules differently for different games. I do like games that are easy to teach and learn, where the rules allow you to start playing pretty much straight away and you learn new rules as you go along. However, that's not always possible and for more complex games, learning rules tends to be more involved. Yet, now that more and more games are also available digitally, there seems to be another way of learning a new game.
Oliver KinnePost read time 5 min readLeave a Comment on Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right (Digital Eyes)It was an outrage! The Eerie had invaded our peaceful clearing. They blatantly ignored our sympathy. Those feathered warriors would regret it. The next birdsong would be full of revolts and they would rue their decision. Using guerrilla tactics, we would show everyone not to mess with us. We weren't as defenceless as we looked. We would solve the problem and get to its Root by Leder Games.
İrem Erbilirgil is an accomplished 2D and 3D artist from Istanbul, Turkey. She is currently working on the upcoming game Keystone: North America by the recently founded Rose Gauntlet Entertainment, where her realistic art style really comes to the fore.
Oliver KinnePost read time 2 min readLeave a Comment on Board Game Player Profile – Update (Topic Discussion)The last time I checked my board game player profile on Quantic Foundry was back in April 2020, so nearly a year ago. So I thought, it's time to run through the questions again and see if much has changed. You can check yours as well. Just follow the links at the bottom of this article.
Our peace had been shattered. We had been living underground for centuries, happily going about our daily chores. We had spread across many moons around the planet and were very content and happy until one day a meteor impacted and threatened everyone's lives. It was time for us to come above ground and start mining our moons for resources, so we could build new technologies that would save us. We were able to communicate with the other moons and co-ordinate our efforts, so we were hopeful. Yet, time was running out and we had to be quick and efficient if we wanted to escape our doom and flee to Uranus by The Dark Imp.
I have talked about house rules before, but what I want to talk about in this article is slightly different. When you play a game for the first time, or when you play a game you know with someone who plays it for the first time, the rules aren't always clear and it's possible someone misunderstands them. That's to be expected, but when you base your whole game, your whole strategy on your misunderstanding, then the game experience can really suffer. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)
We were at the dawn of a new civilization. We didn't know it yet, but we were going to embark on an exciting adventure that would offer us a lot of new opportunities, some challenging times and many new discoveries. It would take a very long time indeed, but we would not only master fire, but eventually reach the stars. We would explore the world and stamp our mark on it. We were ready to make a reality of our Plans & Ploys by Stonemaier Games.
Jacqui Davis was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to the UK as a kid. After graduating with a 1st in Animation from Staffordshire University in 2012, she began freelancing. She is also known as the Logic Fairy and currently lives and works in Lytham-St-Annes, where she enjoys walks through the woods or ambles along the estuary. She paints everything from adorable animals to villainous wizards, bringing life to characters she is passionate about. She listens to a good audiobook or has a movie on in the background while painting, and when she is not painting she keeps the creative mojo going by doing a spot of writing.
We all have a soft spot for the latest and greatest board game that's coming out next. After all, it'll be better and more wonderful than the game that came before it, or so we're told. We are entranced by the playthroughs, we gawp at the beautiful components and we imagine how much fun we'll have playing this amazing new game. Yet, sometimes these new games aren't actually that new and we're too blind to see it. So in this article, I want to explore what this means for us, as the board game buying public. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)
